'When our coaches mentioned they had seen a load of champers going into the Bristol changing room, we were absolutely raging'
The pre-match build-up at the Memorial Ground in Bristol was going swimmingly. Bristol, that ageing aristocrat of West Country rugby, were prepping for an evening where the result versus Exeter was a foregone conclusion, judging by the estimation of the local bookmakers. A return to their rightful home in the Premiership beckoned.
While the seats were occupied, programmes sold, beer kegs loaded and television stanchions eased into position, the underdogs were getting whipped up. After a tense 9-6 victory in the first-leg, the Exeter Chiefs knew they could be spiriting their way back down the M5 a few hours later with a place in the Premiership secured for the first time in the 139-year history.
As the din of the crowd intensified in the changing rooms a member of the ground staff just so happened to mention in passing that a cart of champagne bottles had been wheeled into the home side’s changing room.
Rob Baxter and Ali Hepher couldn’t look a gift-horse in the proverbial chops so when they relayed the message stone-faced to their already highly agitated forward pack, the reaction unanimous. This grandiose suggestion of a bacchanalian night of Bristol excess was way too presumptuous.
As the kick-off approached, forwards – including stalwarts Neil Clark and James Hanks – were bouncing off the walls and the backline had a steely look to them. Even though they held a narrow aggregate lead and despite the parochial chants of “Brissstolll, Brissstolll” reverberating around the old ground, they knew opportunity beckoned.
As history now tells us, the Chiefs romped home to a tub-thumping 29-10 victory with 24 points from the boot of Gareth Steenson and a try from Simon Alcott. At the final whistle, they had reason to collapse onto the soil with rictus grins. They were heading for the promised land.
Two starting members of that side that night were Tom Johnson, the eight-cap England back row, and long-serving Exeter Chiefs legend, Phil Dollman. For Johnson, what sticks in the memory is not the key moments of the game, but the emotional peaks and troughs.
“The week before we had narrowly won at home,” he told RugbyPass. “That was a huge win for us psychologically because we knew we could beat him. It gave us an edge. Of course, when our coaches mentioned they had seen a load of champers going into the Bristol changing room, we were absolutely raging. Another incentive was cash. Rob Baxter said at half-time, ‘There’s a grand on this game if you can bring it home’. Now when you’re on 25 grand in the Championship, that becomes a big, big deal.”
After nearly 250 games for Exeter, full-back Dollman said the night still sticks out as one of his favourite memories. “It’s funny, there’s not a lot that I can remember about the actual action but the little things stood out. As Tom said, the fact we had a little bonus riding on the outcome and the champagne being cold on ice.
“Put it this way, motivation wasn’t needed. Looking back, I don’t think it sunk in because we hit it hard for three or four days. I remember one of the boys damaged the trophy early on in a Dean Richards-John Jefferey situation and when we got back to the club that was the first and last free bar we’ve ever had at Sandy Park. Happy days.”
For Johnson, who retired in 2017 and is now working as a personal trainer alongside implementing health and well-being programmes for a large local property developer, the nostalgia induced by that night matures like a fine red.
“You don’t realise it at the time but ten years is a proper milestone. I only wish Amazon Prime or Netflix had been filming the rise of the Exeter Chiefs like they did with Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance. Seeing what the club has achieved since is an unbelievable story.”
Now reaching the Indian summer in an Exeter stint in which he was Baxter’s first signing in 2009, Dollman said: “We had a Zoom chat about that night the other day and despite the crap chat from the boys, I loved it. If you look at the Exeter success over a decade, it looks like a big surprise, but we have been improving incrementally every year.”
The Welshman feels that confidence has been earned by the club having solid foundations and savvy management. “For a while after we came up, Exeter was seen as this place to go when your career’s run aground at a bigger club or you needed to prove a point. Well, now it’s no longer a stepping-stone, it’s a destination.
“Rob assesses the player’s character before he signs you and even though there is a small minority of players in the league who have big egos and can upset the environment, they get knocked in shape pretty quickly when they come here.”
Johnson concurs that it was fundamentally about having decent people involved in a club with an insatiable work ethic and a vision. He also admits luck played a part. “We had a bloody good plan but it also helped that it was the first year we had play-offs in the Championship. If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t have been promoted.”
He's even tried on the boots he wore in the 2010 playoff… https://t.co/ini2WyKxCl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 26, 2020
With the RFU announcing the playoffs in advance and the coaches working out the Chiefs would have to play 36 games in order to get promoted, it was decided to change tack. “It’s amazing what having a plan and everyone buying into it does. Players are usually flying after pre-season and playing fantastic rugby, but as the grind sets in they start to deteriorate towards the finishing point.
“To counter that the coaches inserted a three-week strength block around Christmas and rotated lots of players. The results dropped but there was no panic. By the time we faced Bristol in the final we had a psychological edge. We knew were in the best shape we could be in.”
While Exeter had long been known as a forwards dominated side, Johnson said that within days of the side’s promotion, Hepher was already thinking about a revolution in their playing style. The successful implementation of this has led them to be the highest try-scoring side in the Premiership in the last decade with 634 tries.
It’s something which elicits a chuckle from Johnson. “In those figures did they mention how many driving mauls or pick and goes we had? Seriously, I’d say Rob and especially Ali were ahead of their time. In the Championship, we had this mantra as a team of keeping it tight but in the pre-season after we got promoted that all changed.
“I’d never known anything like it. We didn’t do any mindless fitness sets. It was all about refining our skills. It was all, ‘attack, attack, attack’. Look at them now. They are so efficient. It’s all about visits to the red zone. They’re Mike Tyson-esque in relentlessly ploughing forward. Until someone stops them, they won’t change. Their mindset is awesome.”
With time for reflection of those heady Exeter days, both Dollman and Johnson are, perhaps unsurprisingly, still advocates for promotion after continuing rumours of Premiership intervention to hoist up the drawbridge.
Dollman, who played for Dragons in the Celtic League before joining Exeter, was particularly adamant it should be kept. “I’m slightly biased but having experienced the Magners League, there’s a staleness at the bottom when you’re not fighting for end-of-season honours. The motivation just ebbs away. In order to keep that interest up ideally you wouldn’t lock the league up. There are some great old clubs in the lower leagues and not giving them the opportunity to play Premiership again could cause a big split in English rugby.”
Johnson agreed. “Relegation is one of the things that keeps the league competitive. Without it, you may get more free-flowing rugby but the pressure adds excitement. If there are enough good teams to compete, it should stay open.”
One side who has impressed Johnson in recent years is, ironically, Bristol. “It’s all well and good having the cash but you need to invest it sensibly. Bristol have a great coach, a clear ethos and play a good brand of rugby. You can’t just buy everything. We certainly didn’t at the Chiefs.”
Respect at club eventually meant Exeter became a side noticed by England after so long being seen as a West Country backwater. It was something that started with Johnson, who made his England debut in 2012, and was followed swiftly by Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie.
The Chiefs are now a side which regularly has world stars signing for them, Stuart Hogg, Santi Cordero and Alex Cuthbert to name but three. “I suppose I stumbled and tripped into the England set-up really but the timing for those boys was brilliant,” said Johnson.
“We were ready to move on from the promotion years. You have to give credit to the club for holding onto the best talent in the area in the academy. In a way, I was probably prouder with Ben Moon, who has had a more similar route to me, and maybe Harry Williams. In time, I’m hoping there are many more of them to come.”
What started at a slight over a crate of champagne has turned into a dynasty for the Chiefs. The next decade could prove just as fruitful.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
4 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
6 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
8 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
8 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments